Tortilla crisis!

[VOR]

Mexicans protest as tortilla crisis hurts Calderon

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Mexico's capital on Wednesday night to protest a surge in tortilla prices that has put President Felipe Calderon under intense pressure.

Soaring U.S. demand for ethanol has sent corn prices to their highest level in a decade, pulling up prices of Mexico's national food staple.

Protesters held up ears of corn and complained that Calderon, a conservative accused by leftists of stealing the July 2006 presidential election, was failing to protect them against foreign market forces.

"Calderon isn't just a thief, he's a murderer because he wants us to die of hunger," Elvira Acevedo, 62, said at the march.

1. Those bastige conservatives are always stealing elections!
2.This had nothing to do with NAFTA whatsoever. *cough*
3. Nevar forget teh chimichanga!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070201/wl_nm/mexico_tortillas_dc

[john9001]

that does it, i'm going to boycott taco bell.

[oboe]

Originally posted by VOR
Soaring U.S. demand for ethanol has sent corn prices to their highest level in a decade...

I don't see how the same thing won't happen here - and I don't just mean tortillas - I mean beef and anything with corn syrup in it (which covers many, many food products).

Demand for corn-based ethanol is going to raise food prices.   I read somwhere if all the planned ethanol plants were to suddenly come online, it would require all of Iowa's current annual corn crop.   Now, farmers can plant more acres in corn but that means fewer acres in soybeans, etc - so prices of those commodities will go up.

Seems a little bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul to me.

[soda72]

Soaring U.S. demand for ethanol has sent corn prices to their highest level in a decade, pulling up prices of Mexico's national food staple.

Oh the irony, they didn't want to be apart of any "war for oil" now they can suck on the high tortilla prices, as US politicians not wanting to deal with the middleeast anymore look for other alternatives to meet energy demands....    




Maybe next time they decide to chant praises to OBL when playing the US soccer team they can also praise him for the high tortilla prices .....

[rpm]

Hopefully Bush's energy plan will switch us from corn based ethanol to alternative sources like wood chips and garbage. There is also plenty of underutilzed land that can be put to work growing better fuel crops like sugar beets.

I can stand higher tortilla prices. The day it starts to effect my bourbon prices, we'll have a war!

[VOR]

CNN is reporting Bush's energy plan right now. They had some pics, too.

[Skuzzy]

Bush has a plan,...ROFLMBO!!!!!!!!!!!  And how long will that one last?  Ohhh,..dunt tell me,...uh....LOL!!!!

Wait,...LOL!!!

Damn,..cannot stop laughi...LOL!!!  Oh dayum,...there goes the Pepsi,...LOL!!!

You know what the difference is between Bush and a train wreck?
  You can see the train burning.

You know what the difference is between Bush and a train wreck?
  You usually can avoid a train wreck.

You know what the difference is between Bush and a train wreck?
  Hard to say.


ROFLMBO!!!!!!!  A plan,...ROFL!!!!  Who is going to get that medal?  LOL!!!!  ROFL!!!!

[lasersailor184]

Originally posted by john9001
that does it, i'm going to boycott taco bell.

Taco bell is an american made, american run corporation...

[nirvana]

But they use tortillas Laser!  Oh the humanity!

[Debonair]

durn:cry:crycorn tortillas pwn flour torillas...plz dont bring taco hell into a thread about food

[Hornet33]

I keep saying de-populate the world by 1/3rd and these kind of problems will go away. There are too many people on this rock but God forbid we do anything about it.

[Maverick]

I mentioned this a little while back. It's only going to get worse and will affect far more than the tortilla situation in Mexico that so many of you are so entertained by.

It's basic economics the old example used to be the "beans or bullets" analogy. There is only so much arable land and resources to plant it with either food or ethanol crops. You can't have it all and the economics will come into play with cost to the consumer very likely to rise. The demand for the agriculterual product will of course drive prices up. Merely claiming to switch the crop won't be the solution given the limits on land and resources to grow the products.

The same applies to the sugar beets. The current crop of sugar beets already supplies the majority of sugar in the US. Cutting into that source will only raise the price of sugar and everything that uses it in significant quantity.

As a stop gap, ethanol and bodiesel are poor substitutes. A totally new fuel source that won't cut into other areas of the economy and are economical to produce would be a far better option. If it can't compete financially with oil it's not likely to replace it until it can.

[rpm]

There is plenty of unused and underused cropland. Do you have any idea how much land is being paid for not to farm? Plant that land with high output crops like sugar beets. Make lower grade ethanol with waste.

[Maverick]

Quite a bit of farm "waste" ends up going back into the ground to assist in fertilizing the soil without having to resort to artificial fertilizers. Using that waste would end up adding to costs, another impact on the farming economics.

TANSTAAFL

[vorticon]

BURNING!

DEATH!

FARMERS MAKING A DECENT PROFIT!



AAAAGHH!!!!!


all you need is a good place withing 100 miles of the US coast     to grow sugar plant for ethanol, and you wont have to worry about the corn.

or cigars